Official Texans vs. Ravens Game Thread, 12/21/2014

[Arky]

Onside kick is recovered by AJ. Texan's ball at the Raven 47.

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Foster goes right and loses 1.

Blue loses 1. About 5 minutes left in the game. 3rd and 12 coming up.

Foster for no gain. Texans will have to punt. Ravens use a timeout (#2). 4:20 left in the game.

Lechler's punt is downed at the Raven 1. Raven's ball.

[Nconroe]

hey, how about that Texans downed the punt at 2 yard line. Texans defense just needs to close it out now.

[Arky]

Pass to T Smith gets a couple or three.

Pass to T Smith goes to the 25 yard line, 1st down.

Pass to S Smith gets about 14.

Flacco can't find a receiver and throws it away, inc. 2nd and 10 coming up with 2:45 left in the game.

Flacco pressured, throws it inc. 3rd and 10 coming up.

Screen to Toussaint is inc. Ravens going for it on 4th and 10.....

Texans use a timeout (#2). 2:34 left in the game.

Watt with the sack! Texans takeover on downs!

[Nconroe]

JJ Watt and Defense with another 4th down stop. amazing Watt. Watt now bypassed Mario as all time Texans sack leader.

[Arky]

Blue for 2. Ravens use their last timeout with 2:21 left in the game.

Blue caught for a loss of 3 or 4. Brings up 3rd and 12.

2 minute warning.

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Blue loses 2. Texans burn some clock and delay the game. 1:11 left in the game as Lechler is on for the punt.

Punt goes into the end zone, touchback. Raven's ball at their 20 with 1:04 left in the game.

[Nconroe]

oh man, Rolle didn't catch the punt on the 2 yard line, touchback.

Keenum gets a win finally as a Texan. good team win, especially defense.

8-7 Texans. how about that.

[Arky]

Screen to Toussaint goes for 15.

Forsett (?) for 5.

Time runs out.

Final Score:

Texans 25, Ravens 13

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Very nice win. Keenum now 3-5-1 against the spread.

[chuck]

Two straight out of control games by the defense. It's scary to think that there are any number of places where, in the event of a responsible draft, the defense could get a lot better.

[Arky]

This loss may have knocked Baltimore out of the playoffs.... Kinda sweet since we've always been their whipping boys (and minor league farm club)....

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Watt led the team in tackles with 8 total (solo and assisted). I'm only seeing him credited with 1 sack so he's at 17.5 for the year and I believe maybe #1 in the NFL....

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Keenum was not sacked today. Good job o-line, OB and Keenum......

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Defense was just outstanding as chuck mentioned. Wish the chemistry could have been gelled a little earlier in the year.....

[barrett]

Originally Posted by chuck

Two straight out of control games by the defense. It's scary to think that there are any number of places where, in the event of a responsible draft, the defense could get a lot better.

Did it hurt to say that Chuck? It was almost positive.

I ask because you just spent a whole game bashing the Texans while they led wire-to-wire with a 4th string QB over a playoff team that desperately needed the game.

[nunusguy]

No kidding, hey Texans just wanted it more than the Ravens. There's some pretty good mid to late round picks on that defense like DE Crik and CB Buoye.
And If we have any luck getting back the two 2 IRed rookies Clowney and the Notre Dame NT we should be really strong next year on defense, but I guess Jonahtan Joesph and/or Cushing will be cap casualaties next year.

[WMH]

Hell of a job by the coaches today. Pretty impressive stuff. To likely finish with a winning record as a 1st year HC, with this QB mess is a damn good start. Playoffs or not.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Warren

You think Foster may be the emergency QB? O'Brien has never disclosed who that is.

I thought it was disclosed that Shane Lechler was the emergency QB.

Nice win. Great defense, great gameplanning from the coaches. The Texans sure seemed pretty familiar with that Kubiak offense. There was a moment somewhere in the middle of that game where it seemed like Swearinger was listening to the offense and knew exactly what to expect. If you're an offense that is gonna make Swearinger actually look like the smart one, then you're gonna be in for a long afternoon.

There was a nice pass to Damaris Johnson in this game that gives you a glimmer of what this offense might be like with an upgrade to the slot receiver. Really hope that is addressed in the offseason.

Ben Jones tries hard, and he is a fun guy to root for, but the sooner he is replaced by XSF or whomever, the better.

Sure seems like we are watching A.J. Bouye mature out there. Kareem Jackson turned in a good performance. JJo can still play, but comes at a pricetag...and Kendrick Lewis is going to need a new deal. Gonna be an interesting offseason to see how this secondary returns in 2015.

Hate to look back, but those handful of losses to teams like the Steelers, Cowboys, Colts, and others... just wish the Texans could get one of them back. Now the team needs a lot of help, namely from the Chiefs and (gulp!) Browns.

[chuck]

Since I apparently hate the Texans so much you guys must think it's a morgue around here when the Texans are winning. Not so. As evidence I submit a picture of my wife and son today, jubilant over another Randy Bullock field goal:

http://i.imgur.com/OnNtGc8.jpg

It was either the fourth or fifth, it's hard to tell at this point. But if you think that was a celebration you should have been here for the team record shattering sixth field goal from point-blank range. It was pandemonium.

Amid the merriment I could have sworn that I heard my son scream 'OUTSTANDING!'

I have no idea where he learns that sort of language.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by chuck

Enough with this wildcat bullshit, enough of this junior high trickery. Throw the ball downfield, goddamn it, or spread the field and run the ball. Use your normal offense, not some junior high bullshit.

I'm right there with you. Well, I would be if we didn't have a Cougar High quarterback. This is where O'Brien differs from Kubiak. O'Brien took the Keenum out of Keenum today... quick drops, gimmick plays. Notice how many sacks the Ravens had on Sunday? Zero. How many times did O'Brien allow Keenum to scramble around, extend the play, and ultimately take a 14-yard sack? Zero.

Hey, if you're given a junior high QB, you go with a junior high offense in order to win a game. When Fitz and Mallett were under center, we saw virtually none of this.

Originally Posted by Arky

Hey, hey, looks like Foster was sweeping right and he throws to Fido in the end zone for the TD!

This is why the halfback option pass in 2014 is genius with O'Brien and why it was an unmitigated failure against the Jags in 2009 when Kubiak opted to take the ball out of Schaub's hands and into Chris Brown's.

[chuck]

Ahh, the memories:

http://ww1.hdnux.com/photos/25/15/66...63/628x471.jpg

[Arky]

Interesting take: the Junior High strategy..... If it means a W against the Ravens perhaps we can break out the Pee Wee football strategy against the Broncos/Patriots of the league?

[Warren]

Originally Posted by Keith

I thought it was disclosed that Shane Lechler was the emergency QB.

The TV guys for the Colts game seemed to think so, but when O'Brien was asked about it last week on his radio show he wouldn't answer, implying it was for strategic reasons. While watching yesterday's junior high trickery it occurred to me that would be a better option in a situation where there's no real QBs available than having Lechler back there to hand off and throw the occasional desperation pass.

[HPF Bob]

Foster's pass had a lot of wobble but at least it got to a wide open receiver. The difference between the Foster play and the Chris Brown play was that the receiver was uncovered. Baltimore had nobody on the TE and I can't say that I blame them.

Honestly, the Wildcat, as a surprise option, works quite well. As the announcers described it, one defender had to follow Keenum out of the play, meaning Foster had one less guy to run through. It becomes 10-on-10 football instead of 10-on-11 since the QB is not a blocker.

And, while Keenum wasn't running for his life (thanks to having a legit running threat and better blocking), he did have a long run that had a personal foul tacked onto the end of the run.

I'm sure all week the coaching staff was thinking "how do we run an offense with no quarterback" and what you saw was, in part, what they came up with. I'm glad they didn't turn to the slow white guy reverse that was a Kubiak staple.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Warren

The TV guys for the Colts game seemed to think so, but when O'Brien was asked about it last week on his radio show he wouldn't answer, implying it was for strategic reasons. While watching yesterday's junior high trickery it occurred to me that would be a better option in a situation where there's no real QBs available than having Lechler back there to hand off and throw the occasional desperation pass.

FWIW, in one of the local TV Sunday night sports specials, O'Brien told a reporter that Arian Foster can throw a tight spiral 60 yards. That wounded duck he tossed to CJF doesn't really support this claim, but yeah, I could see Foster running the wildcat as quickly as I could see Lechler under center in an emergency QB situation.